Media Literacy and Body Image

Wesley Humphires

Media Literacy impacts how people feel about there body. On posters you see celebrities, teenagers want to be like them. Today’s popular media have constructed an ideal image of what ‘attractiveness’ is. But most images are photo shopped to show body shapes that are impossible to achieve.

Kids take in a huge amount of information from a wide array of sources, far beyond the traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines) of most parents' youth. There are text messages, memes, viral videos, social media, video games, advertising, and more.

The digital age has made it easy for anyone to create media. We don't always know who created something, why they made it, and whether it's credible. This makes media literacy tricky to learn and teach. Nonetheless, media literacy is an essential skill in the digital age.

Movies, commercials, magazines, and websites portray beautiful people as ideal. Underweight models and Photo shopped images of perfection are everywhere. Diet products and beauty items send the message that being thinner and more attractive is the key to happiness and success.

The effect can be seen in children at a young age. Research shows children as young as 3 prefer game pieces that depict thin people over those representing heavier ones. By age 10, 80 percent of American girls have been on a diet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQgeRY16tIk

The video shows how teens want to be and they do not realize the photos are Photo shopped. Parent should talk to their children about body image when they are teenagers.

The Consequences of Poor Body Image

The pressure to be thin can have serious consequences. Research has linked the exposure of images of underweight air-brushed female bodies to unhealthy eating habits and decreased self-esteem. In a survey conducted by Girlguidng half of girls ages 16 to 21 said they would undergo surgery to improve their bodies.

Poor body image can lead to even more serious consequences. While some teens develop eating disorders, others experience depression. A 2009 found that girls who were unhappy with their appearance were at a significantly higher risk for suicide.

So, how can we help our kids to become media literacy?

Think of this acronym:  F-A-C-E, when trying to remember topics to talk about with your tween and teens.

First, we can suggest that our teens Filter the media they’re exposed to.  Body image researchers sometimes refer to this as “protective filtering.”  What is meant by this is that social media that’s harmful should be filtered out of our teens’ repertoire online.

Second, we want to encourage—or possibly force—our teens to Avoid at least some social media at least some of the time.  This is taking filtering one step further for the purpose of encouraging some real-world interactions and evading negative online interactions.

Third, we want to teach our teens to be Careful of Comparisons.  Social comparisons, as psychologists call them, are pervasive as we grow up because we have a hard time objectively evaluating “how we are doing.”  We look to others’ appearance and accomplishments as some sort of metric or standard with which to live up to

Fourth, Evaluate what your teens are seeing on social media and encourage them to do the same.  The images available online can be particularly pernicious in that they are rarely accurate representations of reality.